wtf: major problem need help

MeanGrn Gt · May 24, 2007

well i got my radar detector today so i was going to put it in tonight (escort passport 8500 x50). well for some reason both of the cig lighters are not wired up anymore and i dont see the wires so i was just going to direct wire it using the smart cord. well after some looking i decided for now id just wire up the power outlet by the shifter and this weekend id hard wire it after figuring out where i wanted it all mounted.

well i found a wire that is hot with the key in the acc/on so i was just gonna use that (no idea what they had wired up but there was 4 wires going up the a pillar green (hot), black (ground) and a red and a white that were not hooked up to anything :dunno

. so i hooked it up and grounded it on the shifter mount. I plug it in and everything is fine. detector turns on... then i try to start the car. it just cranks but wont start. now i am thinking wtf happened. So then i unplug the detector... car fires right up. so now i am thinking wtf is going on. maybe the wire i got power from is getting juice from something i shouldnt be messing with. so i find another wire and tap into it. same thing. car wont start with the rd hooked up and if i have the car running and plug it in the car dies instantly. So i thought maybe the ground was fucking it up so i tried another ground on the tranny and the same thing and then i tried one underneath the console (under the compartment you can pop out). same thing car dies and wont run with the radar detector hooked up.

So now i am thinking the detector is seriously fucked up (got it used off ebay). so i then try it in my dad's powerstroke. It runs fine. it works right and the pickup keeps running. So i thought maybe it was the damn cig lighter/power outlet and tried using the hard wire cord and direct wire it... same thing the car wont run. So then i decided to try the charger for my phone thinking maybe its the radar detector. It does the same thing with the charger hooked up to my phone. So then i gave up on it because i am fed up.

I can have the cord plugged into the lighter and it runs fine but if i connect the cord to the detector it kills it.

what in the hell would cause the car to not run like that. i am totally lost. i have never heard of such a thing before in my life. i am going to see if i can figure out where in the hell/what color the power and ground for the cig lighter are and try that. i think it is killing the spark somehow. originally i thought it was the fuel pump but it kills it so instantly that it has to be spark/ignition related

anyone have any fucking clue on what is going on. it is driving me fucking crazy :comando:

:help2:

19mustang95 · May 24, 2007

did you trace the wire to see where it is coming from?

MeanGrn Gt · May 25, 2007

im pretty sure it is tapped into a wire off the fuse box. i didnt bury my head under there trying to find it. i dont think its that wire because i also tried another wire for power (black wire runs under the factory cd player). anyone know what color the wire for the cig lighter is so i can look for it? also where is it grounded at. if i dont get any answers tonight i might just get a fuse tap and try that and ground it by the fuse block and see what happens :dunno:

Hybridbird · May 25, 2007

Someone used your cig lighter as a kill switch.Ive done it before except mine was opposite my car wouldnt start unless my lighter was pushed in,if u pulled it out to where it normally sits nothin.Makes a great low budget security system.

MeanGrn Gt · May 25, 2007

actually no but close...

i got a good laugh today. so i started off by digging around for the green wire i first tapped. Well it looked like it went to the fuse block but it went past it and weaved around some shit down to the carpet where i discovered it turned into a 14 ga black wire.... now i am thinking this looks similar to the "2nd wire" i tapped under the dash. Well i trace it some more and guess what... it is. out of all the goddamn wires i got the same one twice. So now i trace it around the ductwork etc out the firewall on the passenger side where it follows a vac line (i know exactly what it is now :comando

and then goes under the upper intake to the coil :comando: . man did i get owned.

so now i got the power outlet working when i need it and i can have the detector running till i finish the install and this weekend im gonna figure out exactly how i am going to mount and hard wire it in. i was looking @ the clock pod. it would be a good place for the smart cord. the shape for the numbers is about the same shape as the display but then i will have the 2 holes for the hour and minute buttons. ill do some thinking this weekend and get er done

so if anyone wires up a kill switch plz dont leave the wire there for the next guy to stumble onto while trying to wire something up after a very long day @ work :rollinglaugh: . man did i get owned ;D

GREG@SN95 · May 25, 2007

rofl

thats funny... glad you got it all worked out

19mustang95 · May 25, 2007

Hybridbird said:
Someone used your cig lighter as a kill switch.Ive done it before except mine was opposite my car wouldnt start unless my lighter was pushed in,if u pulled it out to where it normally sits nothin.Makes a great low budget security system.

i want to do that.